John Harrington

John Leo Harrington (born c. 1937) is an American retired business manager and former executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was president of the Boston Red Sox from 1987 through 2001, also acting as CEO during much of the time the Red Sox were owned by the JRY Trust (1992–2001). Early life and career Harrington graduated from Boston College in 1957, and received his MBA there in 1966. After college, he was an officer in the U.S. Navy, then worked for both the General Accounting Office and NASA. He eventually became an accounting professor at Boston College until 1970, where he was hired by Joe Cronin, president of the American League, to be the league's controller. Boston Red Sox After Cronin retired, Harrington was hired by Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey as treasurer of the Red Sox. Yawkey died in 1976 and was eventually replaced by his wife Jean, who sold the team in 1977 to a syndicate headed by general partners Buddy LeRoux and Haywood Sullivan. To gain approval of the sale by the American League, Mrs. Yawkey joined the ownership group in 1978 as its third general partner and club president. Harrington left the team to work for Governor Edward King of Massachusetts and then for a Lloyd's of London insurance affiliate. But he eventually returned to the Red Sox in the mid-1980s, during a period of strife between LeRoux and his partners, and became an important advisor to Mrs. Yawkey. Harrington also became the first non-owner to serve as the team's president, a position he held during 1987–2001. CEO After Jean Yawkey's death in 1992, as trustee of the JRY Trust, Harrington arranged for the Trust to buy out the shares of Sullivan, the last remaining general partner. He completely overhauled the front office, bringing in general manager Dan Duquette from the Montreal Expos. Under Harrington's leadership the team compiled one of the best records in baseball; the team won the 1986 American League Championship Series; won the American League East division in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1995; and won the Wild Card in 1998 and 1999.